Russell (ankle) exits again; Lakers eye Sunday
LOS ANGELES — Lakers rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell attempted to play on a sprained right ankle in Friday’s 117-113 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he left the game in the first half because of the injury.
“He gave it a go, which I was proud of him for doing that,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “He tried to plant [his foot] and close out on a guy, and he really felt it. And he told me that at the end of the first quarter. [He said], ‘But I want to see if I can go a couple more minutes and see if it loosens up.’
“I give him a lot of credit for that, for trying. After about two or three minutes, I said, ‘Listen, we’re just going to take you out and get some treatment on that thing and hopefully we can get it ready for Sunday [against the Utah Jazz].'”
Russell played almost eight minutes and finished with two points and two assists. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft suffered the injury in Thursday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, during which he scored a career-high 27 points.
“He tried to fight through it,” Kobe Bryant said. “It’s a tough game to fight through when you’re trying to chase Russell [Westbrook] around. He’s tough to chase around on two healthy ankles. But I like what I’m seeing from him.
“The game against Sacramento, he played extremely hard on both ends of the floor. Hopefully we’ll get him back healthy sooner rather than later and we’ll continue that momentum.”
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